


Episode 21

by vermillionlady



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Happy Ending, M/M, Team Free Will (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:02:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27787960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vermillionlady/pseuds/vermillionlady
Summary: Proceeding immediately after Episode 20, a little fix-it to give the characters some happiness.  It was all a dream...
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Episode 21

**Chapter 1**

“Heya Sammy”. Dean turns and sees his brother standing before him.

******************************************************************************

He can feel himself starting to wake. He stirs, his head groggy and forehead feeling cold. Like he has been asleep for too long. He sits up and rubs his eyes, brushes his hands down his brown trench coat and runs his fingers through his dark hair. Castiel tries to shake that feeling of dread from his heart. He was told that the Empty would be a place where he would relive his greatest regrets. It is also the place where he imagines his greatest fears. A nightmare, his worst fear, being forgotten and thrown aside. Dean barely caring that he was gone, moving on so easily and happily. How long has Cas been in the Empty? It was hard to tell time in a place like this. Was it days, weeks, years? Castiel had cashed in on his deal with the Empty. A deal that would allow him to save his best friend from death itself. Castiel professed his love to Dean, confessed what has been bottled up inside for so many years. 

The nightmares are always similar, Dean dying young and in pain now that Castiel is no longer there to help the Winchesters. Sam his other found family and the brother to Dean surviving but a husk of a man. The two most important people in his life being apart from him. Like all dreams it bordered on bizarre. Vampires with clown masks that rip out tongues? Dean dying being impaled by a hook made of rebar? He had gained extra luck for the goddess Fortuna, even without Chuck writing his story Dean would not be that unlucky. This time at least the brothers did make it to a heaven together, even if he was absent. 

Castiel stood up and looked around at the nothingness surrounding him. When angels and demons die, they enter this place called the Empty. A bleak, dark and lonely place. Is it because we don’t have souls, or in the case of demons the souls of the dead are corrupted? “Why are you awake again, I am trying to sleep!!” The Empty takes on the form of Meg, again. Inches from his face, her rage seething. The Empty has been “loud” for weeks. When his adopted son Jack was about to explode Billie, the last Death, transported Jack into the Empty. Of course, this was before Billie was after Dean. The resulting explosion sent shockwaves throughout the Empty, waking the majority of the demons and angels. Now we drift in and out of consciousness. Like a tide hitting a beach. It is far worse than before for we know our true fate. Waking from these nightmares only to know that soon we will fall back into this pain. An endless cycle that is unbearable. With the integrity of the Empty itself seeming to be compromised, Castiel’s one remaining hope is that he will be able to escape and go back to his family, even if that means facing Dean.

**Chapter 2**

He picks at the corner of the label on his beer bottle, lost in thought. Yesterday Dean and his brother Sam had defeated Chuck. Their surrogate son Jack, who they raised with Castiel, had absorbed Chuck’s power making Jack the new God. Dean had asked Chuck to bring Castiel back. Jack said he would find a way. The Empty was pissed and Jack needed to find a way to set everything right in his new role.

Dean was getting impatient. He couldn’t leave things the way they were. He ran his finger along the wood grain of the table and stopped at the words engraved in the wood. His initials, his brother’s, his Mom’s, Jack’s and Castiel’s. He runs his fingers across the letters C-A-S. He brings his hand to his face and rubs the corner of his eyes and the bridge of his nose. He is running on no sleep.

“Any word from Jack?” Sam walks in the library, Eileen following closely behind. When Jack brought everyone back, he brought back Eileen too. Dean was happy for Sammy. Him and Eileen were good together. And she had a nice rack so that didn’t hurt. 

“No not yet.” Dean returns to peeling the label off the bottle.

“He will come through. I got a message from Charlie, her and the rest of the people from Apocalypse world were returned as well. She made her way home.”

“That’s great. Everyone gets their happy ending, while Cas rots.” Dean replies sarcastically. He grabs the half full bottle and hurls it across the room. It shatters, glass flying out from the wall.

“Maybe we should give him some space.” Eileen signs to Sam.

“Jack will figure something out, it’s hasn’t even been a day.” Sam squeezes his big brothers shoulder. “Get some rest man.”

Sam takes Eileen by the hand and gives Dean some space. 

**Chapter 3**

“So I hear you opened up your little heart and told little old Dean how much you loved him. Awe Cas is in love with Dean, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Too bad he doesn’t care about you little brother.” Lucifer jeers on Castiel. Getting right in his face.

“Leave me alone.” Cas wishes the Empty was quiet. Being taunted by Satan for eternity is not how he pictured things would go.

“Cas is in love, little gay angel fell in love with a guy who probably doesn’t even wash his underwear. Ha ha ha.” Lucifer throws back his head in laughter.

“Well I love it when you talk dirty there Lucy but your talking about my bestie and you are talking out your ass.” Crowley walks up between Cas and Lucifer. “So why don’t you take your chauvinistic crap and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.”

Lucifer rolls his eyes. “You two are no fun anyway. Enjoy wanking each other off over your love of Dean Winchester.” And with that the Devil left the former fallen angel and king of hell. 

**Chapter 4**

Sam moves the flipper around the edges of the eggs in the pan. “Adam how well done do you like your eggs?”

“Medium, yolks still runny.” Adam sits on the bench in the kitchen in the bunker. He was returned yesterday with everyone else that vanished by Chuck. “Thanks again for letting me stay here. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Don’t mention it, your family. This place is as much your birthright as mine or Dean’s.” Sam lifts the eggs out of the pan and places them on a plate for his little brother. “Here.” He placed bacon on the table in front of Adam as well. 

“Thanks, hey is Dean okay?” Adam asks as he cuts into his eggs.

“He is probably feeling like shit. He was drinking heavily last night.”

Just then like on cue Dean stumbles into the kitchen still smelling like a brewery.

“Uggh. Is that bacon. You don’t even eat bacon.” Dean shuffles to the cupboard and finds a mug to pour some black coffee into.

“I was trying to be nice Dean.”

Dean makes his way to the table and plunks down beside Adam. He grabs a piece of bacon and starts chewing. Hoping the grease will ease his hangover.

Adam looks over at his eldest brother. He really does not know his brothers very well. Part of him would really like to though. “Rough night?”

“You could say that.” Dean replies flatly.

“Shouldn’t you be over the moon you defeated God himself?”

Sam gives Adam a death glare. 

“Ya well we didn’t all just get poofed back into existence now did we.” Dean continues eating more bacon then any person really should in a sitting. 

“Hey guys.” Jack is standing in the doorway. Dean nearly jumps out of his skin. “So I have talked with The Empty. She is super annoyed at me and really every angel and demon right now. In order to bring back Cas I have made a deal with her.” 

Dean turns to look at Jack. “What does she want?”

“She never wants to see Cas again. He must become human for her to release him. He has caused too many problems for her. She says if he is human that when he dies he will never be her problem again and she will gladly release him back to Earth.”

“Great so how do we do that?” Dean asks.

“There is a spell to remove an Angel’s grace. I saw it in Rowena’s book.”

“Great then let’s get to it.” Dean rises from the table and makes his way past Jack.

“When the spell is ready I will return to the empty. Someone has to be beside Cas for it to work.” Jack then disappears from the room.

Adam looks at Sam. “Not a dull moment around here is there?”

Sam adds 3 drops of lambs blood into the bowl. “Okay that is the last ingredient”

“It’s lucky that Jack was on speed dial to get us this stuff.” Dean motions at the table to the variety of obscure ingredients. 

“Ya, lets just hope this works. Okay Jack we are ready.” 

Jack appears in the library. He fills a vile with the substance. “Okay I will go to the empty now and give this to Cas. Dean in a few minutes recite the words.”

“Why does it have to be me again, Sam is better at this witchcraft crap?”

“The connection is best when someone very close to the recipient speaks the words. You can not get any more important to Castiel than Dean Winchester.” With that Jack is gone.

Dean rubs his face. “Okay let’s get feathers back.” And with that he reads the incantation. 

**Chapter 5**

“Ugh” Castiel feels like his stomach is in his throat. Dizzy he tries to sit up.

“Cas?”

He feels strong hands lifting him up. “Dean? What…how?”

“Well you could say I gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.” Dean cracks with a slight smile. Cas leans against his friend barely able to stand.

“I feel awful”

“Well you are human. Welcome back man.” Sam says from behind Dean.

“Ya I guess you are such a feathery pain in the ass the only way that bitch The Empty would let you go is if you would never be in her hair again.” Dean helps steady his friend and leads him to a chain. “Here sit down for a second.”

“Thanks I guess. I remember seeing Jack.”

“Ya he helped break you out.” Sam hands Cas a glass of water.

“So human? Well at least I have some experience with that.”

Dean can hear Eileen’s giggle from across the room. He comes back from the store, a case of beer under his arm, a bag of junk food in the other. He makes his was down the bunker stairs. Feeling lighter and happier than he has in years. 

“Where is Cas?” He asks Sam.

“He went to lie down in his old room.” Sam says through mid laugh. 

Dean smirks. They are cute together. He makes his way to Cas’ bedroom. He hovers his hand over the door. Mild panic rushing through him. “What am I doing?” He thinks to himself. “No I have to face this sometime.” He lightly knocks. He can hear rustling inside. The door creaks open.

“Dean, uh come in.” Cas eyes meet Deans and look away quickly. Dean slowly makes his way in the room leaving the door open behind him.

“How you holding up man?” Dean asks while looking at his feet. He moves to put the beer and junk food down on the nearly empty desk. The entire room is very empty. Cas does not have much for personal belongings Dean realizes. His trench coat is folded neatly over the arm chair. The mixtape Dean made for him is sitting on the desk along with his truck keys.

“I am alright I guess.” Cas does not make eye contact.

“Do you want a beer?” Dean turns and sits down beside Cas on the bed. Two beers in hand.

“Sure I guess.”

Dean twists of the top of a bottle and hands it to his friend. Brushing his fingers slightly as he does.

Cas clears his throat. “Dean about what I said, it’s okay you don’t have to.”

“Shut up for a second Cas.” Dean interrupts. He lifts his eyes and meets his friends blue pools for the first time since he said goodbye. “You stupid idiot.” He rubs his hand across his face. “I love you too Cas. I have for a long time now.”

Cas eyes dart back and forth across Dean’s face. Dean turns and inches his face closer to his friends. Lips brushing against the other mans. He has never kissed another man, never kissed a best friend, and never kissed someone this softly. Cas closes his eyes and starts to return the kiss. It is questioning at first, scared and slow. Dean deepens the kiss, feeling tingles throughout his body. 

Sam walks up to the door frame. Sees his brother and friend in the middle of a passionate kiss. Too absorbed in each other to notice. He smirks and walks away. “Fucking finally.” He thinks to himself. 

Dean pulls from the kiss, holds Cas’ head in his hand, and places his forehead against his friends. Ready for whatever comes next in their story. 


End file.
